ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMTARY ASSEMBLY ACP-EU/101.868/15/fin. RESOLUTION 1 on the financing of investment and trade, including infrastructure, in ACP countries by the EU blending mechanism The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Suva (Fiji) from 15 to 17 June 2015, having regard to Article 18(1) of its Rules of Procedure, having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (the Cotonou Agreement) 2, in particular Article 21 thereof, and revisions of the Cotonou Agreement in 2005 and 2010 3, having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2012 on An Agenda for Change: the future of EU development policy 4, having regard to the Commission communication of 13 October 2011 entitled Increasing the impact of EU Development Policy: an Agenda for Change (COM(2011)0637 SEC(2011)1172 SEC(2011)1173) 5, having regard to the Commission communication entitled A Stronger Role of the Private Sector in Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries (COM(2014)0263), having regard to the report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the activities of the EU Platform for Blending in External Cooperation since its establishment until end July 2014 (COM(2014)0733), 1 Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 17 June 2015 in Suva (Fiji). 2 OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3. 3 OJ L 287, 4.11.2010, p. 3. 4 Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0386. 5 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent//txt/pdf/?uri=celex%3a52011dc0637&qid=1412922281378&from=. DR\1066807.doc AP101.868v01-00 United in diversity
having regard to Special Report No 16/2014 of the European Court of Auditors on the effectiveness of blending regional investment facility grants with financial institution loans to support EU external policies, having regard to the European Development Fund investment facility and the support offered by the European Investment Bank to the ACP countries, having regard to the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund and the investment facilities for the Caribbean and Pacific countries, having regard to the EU Platform for Blending in External Cooperation, led by the European Commission s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, having regard to the conclusions of 12 December 2013 of the Council of the European Union and of the representatives of the governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on financing poverty eradication and sustainable development beyond 2015, having regard to the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on sustainable development financing, having regard to the ACP-EU Joint Declaration of 12 June 2014 on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (ACP/84/025/14 Rev.5), having regard to the synthesis report of the UN Secretary-General on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda entitled The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet 1, having regard to the non-paper from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs of 21 January 2015 on the Preparatory Process for the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development 2, having regard to the Open Working Group established on 22 January 2013 by decision 67/555 (A/67/L.48/rev.1) of the UN General Assembly, having regard to the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, adopted at the fourth OECD High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 29 November to 1 December 2011, A. whereas the private sector is not only a key factor for economic growth, job creation, the supply of goods and services, and trade and innovation, but is also an important source of external financing and helps mobilise the internal resources required to meet the financial needs of developing countries; 1 http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=a/69/700&lang=e. 2 http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ffd_elements-paper_drafting-session.pdf. AP101.868v01-00 2/6 DR\1066807.doc
B. whereas Foreign Direct Investment has the potential to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as reflected in the UNCTAD proposal for an Action Plan for SDG investment, provided that FDI is properly regulated and linked to concrete improvements in the domestic economy, including in terms of transfer of technology and the creation of training opportunities for the local labour force, including women and young people; C. whereas blending, as carried out through EU facilities, entails a combination of market (or concessional) loans with grant (or grant equivalent) components depending on need, such as direct investment grants, technical assistance, interest rate subsidies and other financial instruments, including guarantee mechanisms in the framework of ACP-EU development cooperation; D. whereas the European Commission envisaged in its 2011 Agenda for Change that a higher share of EU aid would be channelled through innovative financial instruments, including facilities for blending grants and loans, and that the EU would further develop blending mechanisms to boost financial resources for development, building on successful experiences such as the European investment facilities (for the European Neighbourhood, the Western Balkans, Latin America and Central Asia) and the EU- Africa Trust Fund for infrastructure; E. whereas so far the regional investment facility has been generally effective, but further improvements are needed in its set-up and operation, for instance by preparing guidelines and participating in the EU Platform for Blending in External Cooperation; F. whereas the EU Platform for Cooperation and Development, incorporating the European Commission, the Member States, the European Parliament and European financial institutions, acts as a major forum by providing recommendations on the use of blending with a view to further increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the blending mechanism; G. whereas the EU in particular has placed greater emphasis on the opportunities offered by blending, i.e. the possibility of combining grant aid with non-grant resources, such as loans, risk capital or equity; H. whereas the blending mechanism is an important vehicle for leveraging additional resources for development and increasing the impact of EU aid; I. whereas Special Report No 16/2014 of the European Court of Auditors on the use of blending concluded that for nearly half of the projects examined there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the grants were justified, while in a number of cases there were indications that the investments would have been made without the EU contribution; J. whereas the blending mechanism should contribute to encouraging the participation of local people in ACP countries in full compliance with the principle of ownership; K. whereas the Commission is exploring options for expanding the scope of blending into new areas, such as sustainable agriculture, the social sectors and renewable energies, as well as for facilitating the implementation of an increased number of projects that DR\1066807.doc 3/6 AP101.868v01-00
have a strong impact on local private-sector development, such as those improving SME access to finance through the creation of dedicated private-sector windows in regional blending facilities; L. whereas the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation recommends that innovative financial mechanisms be developed to mobilise more private finance in support of development goals; M. whereas the ACP countries have limited public resources and enormous investment funding needs; N. whereas the ACP countries have difficulty in financing their own development and in accessing domestic and international private capital; O. whereas the current economic crisis has severely affected emerging and developing countries by directly impacting on their budgetary policies and on their access to both the institutional and private funds needed to carry out capital-intensive projects and to provide basic services; P. whereas today development policy funding is predominantly private in nature; whereas private financing can complement, but not replace, public funding; Q. whereas the involvement of both the private and public sectors can help to improve the costs, effectiveness, efficiency and quality of public services and avoid unfair privatisation processes; R. whereas development financing must be adapted to fit the changing global environment, and whereas, therefore, appropriate new innovative financing instruments, such as financial transaction taxes and carbon taxes on international aviation and maritime transport, should be devised and implemented; S. whereas private financing offers enormous potential and is the main source of external funding in developing countries, and whereas such countries should take all appropriate steps to exploit their comparative advantages; whereas, however, the fiscal space of developed and developing countries is de facto constrained by the requirements of global investors and financial markets; T. whereas private investment should not be a substitute for official development assistance, and whereas public-private partnerships (PPPs) financed through the blending mechanism should in all circumstances be aligned with the host country s national development plan, while mobilising funding through risk mitigation and risk sharing; U. whereas, in geopolitical and development strategy terms, the ACP countries have different risk profiles and no common approach, and whereas loan-grant blending ensures that projects that could be viable but are insufficiently profitable or generate high risk can attract private investment; 1. Recognises that private investment and finance in developing countries, if properly regulated, can help to support local companies and local economies and provide AP101.868v01-00 4/6 DR\1066807.doc
decent jobs; to that effect, deems that the use of the blending mechanism should respond to a clear set of guidelines so as to channel public support only to those private-sector investments that deliver positive development outcomes and comply with the principles of responsible financing; 2. In particular, urges the European Commission, which has indicated its wish to extend considerably the use of blending in future years in the context of ACP-EU cooperation, to implement the recommendations made in the European Court of Auditors Special Report on the use of blending and to evaluate the mechanism of blending loans and grants, particularly in terms of development and financial additionality, transparency and accountability; 3. Welcomes the ongoing work aimed at improving the governance of EU blending facilities, which will make it possible to maximise the leverage and the additionality of funded projects; stresses that the European Commission should further improve the monitoring of how EU grants are implemented; 4. Takes the view that blending is progressive and logical in terms of the volumes of money and the loan-grant ratio and points out that this arrangement ensures that countries can obtain funding without becoming over-indebted; 5. Points out that past experience shows that poorly negotiated PPP contracts could add to state indebtedness, since financial risks are often disproportionally borne by the public sector, while profits mostly accrue to the private sector; calls for increased technical assistance to the governments of partner countries in setting up a sound regulatory framework on responsible financing, including on cost recovery and benefit distribution; 6. Notes that grant-loan blending is used mainly in the energy, transport, water and ICT sectors, and should be further extended to such areas as infrastructure, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), agriculture and the social sector; 7. Points out that the use of the blending mechanism should focus on projects that can have the greatest impact in terms of inclusive and sustainable growth; 8. Observes that the blending mechanism, in its current form, involves the mixing of public grants with loans from financial institutions and other risk-sharing mechanisms, allowing projects to be financed in spite of budget constraints at a time of financial crisis; stresses that PPPs should not be diverted into subsidising North-based transnational companies, which can access alternative sources of financing; 9. Takes the view that any decision to promote the use of PPPs through blending in developing countries should be based on a thorough assessment of the mechanisms involved, and on the lessons learned from past experience; stresses, in this context, that existing research shows that a large majority of PPPs are not based on a robust impact analysis, and that there is weak evidence concerning their development outcomes; 10. Stresses that development agencies must ensure that public development finance is used to support local economic networks in developing countries; in particular, DR\1066807.doc 5/6 AP101.868v01-00
stresses that PPPs should aim to build the capacity of domestic MSMEs; 11. Stresses that in order to optimise the potential of loan-grant blending, transparent procedures for using the blending mechanism need to be established to ensure effective governance and ownership by the beneficiary countries and other stakeholders; takes the view that transparent practices should provide a basis for tight accountability; 12. Emphasises that loan-grant blending does not resolve all funding problems and does not automatically guarantee a lasting impact that is in line with the beneficiary country s objectives, in particular as regards the needs of the social sectors; in this respect, warns against using concessional loans for investments in social sectors such as health and education, as this can hamper the provision of services of general interest, especially for vulnerable populations; emphasises that scarce public aid resources should support public investment, which is not necessarily expected to yield short or medium-term financial returns, in recipient countries; 13. Stresses that loan-grant blending mechanisms, while providing financial and nonfinancial benefits, may also entail substantial risks associated with ownership, indebtedness and opportunity costs, and may also raise questions regarding their effectiveness and impact, the additionality of resources and market distortion; 14. Notes that access to finance and risk-sharing instruments in developing countries is an important prerequisite for the functioning of loan-grant blending; calls, therefore, for the setting up of a risk-sharing mechanism in collaboration with the European development financing institutions, as well as with national and regional agencies, in order to increase public-private investment, in particular in areas such as renewable energies, construction, transport and utilities, which are characterised by high up-front investment, high risk exposure and often unfair international competition; 15. Stresses the importance of developing PPPs as part of the loan-grant blending process and of creating a forum for political dialogue and project coordination between the European Union and the ACP countries as a step towards achieving the objectives of development and aid effectiveness, while guaranteeing a clear, stable and secure environment, good governance and effective dispute settlement; 16. Encourages ACP countries to strengthen the legislative framework required to enhance PPPs within the blending mechanism; 17. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Council, the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, the regional and national parliaments, the regional organisations relating to ACP countries, and the European Investment Bank. AP101.868v01-00 6/6 DR\1066807.doc